The present invention relates in general to mining equipment and in particular to a new and useful roll cutter loader with a machine frame guided at a plane guide on a longwall conveyor and pulled by a plane chain and having end side cutting rolls mounted on the machine frame and roll drive assemblies accommodated in the machine frame, the cutting rolls working in the region between the plane guide and the working face of a mine.
Such roll cutter loaders are known, which comprise a rigid machine frame with pivotably mounted roll supporting arms for the cutter rolls. The machine frame requires a relatively large space and does not permit adaptation to the mineral lode. In particular the frame does not permit a flexible run through depressions and anticlines. In addition, such roll cutter loaders are not very suitable for use in thin lodes because of their structural height. This is true also for coal planes when the lode narrows and a uniform lode opening is to be achieved. A coal plane is also generally not suitable for cutting through obstacles or faults. Instead the use of a roll cutter loader is advisable, but only in a flexible and compact model. This is where the present invention comes in.